In recent years there has been a tremendous worldwide effort to develop motor vehicles operated by a fuel other than a petroleum distillate. Such efforts have resulted in hydrogen powered vehicles, steam powered vehicles and electric powered vehicles, the latter of which has been adopted as the most promising alternate to the normal gasoline consuming internal combustion engine. With adoption of the electric motor vehicle as the proposed answer to such a crucial problem, there has been a need to develop an on-board source of electrical power. Since fuel cells, nuclear generators and other systems have not been perfected to a degree which allows their immediate use on motor vehicles, most developmental efforts in commercializing electric powered motor vehicles now involve the use of a storage battery carried by the vehicle. For that reason, various types of storage batteries have been developed with the objective of increasing the range between chargings, without sacrificing operating speed and/or decreasing the time and effort required in actually charging the on-board storage battery. These objectives have now been generally satisfied by a zinc-chloride battery of the type commercialized by Energy Development Associates and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,024. This patent is incorporated by reference herein as background information regarding the power supply or main storage battery to which the present invention is directed.
When utilizing an electric powered motor vehicle having an on-board storage battery for providing the driving force to the roadway engaging wheels, one major drawback has been the control system for the vehicle. This control system should allow operation, by a driver with sensations as close as possible to the standard internal combustion engine driven vehicle. In this manner, the buying public will not experience a training period for converting their driving habits from internal combustion engines to electric power. Such a control system is still needed and especially for an electric powered vehicle of the type using a zinc-chloride battery as the main power source.